New Aston Martin V12 Zagato Concludes Nürburgring Preparations

Aston Martin today concluded preparations ahead of the forthcoming Nürburgring 24-hour race after two examples of the company’s new V12 Zagato endurance race car concept completed the 51st ADAC Reinoldus-Langstreckenrennen VLN5 four-hour race on the famous German circuit.

Competing in the SP8 category, Aston Martin’s brace of V12 Zagatos; near production standard cars with only essential safety and aerodynamic modifications required for racing, took 2nd and 3rd place in class, equating to 15th and 39th overall in field of some 150 largely specialist cars.

The two new V12 Zagatos – affectionately nicknamed ‘Zig’ (green car) and ‘Zag’ (red car) by the team – were in action in competitive race conditions together here for the first time having been unveiled just weeks ago at the Villa D’Este Concours in Italy. Using this race as a final test session for the 24-hour race in a fortnight, both V12 Zagatos enjoyed a trouble-free run against the typically incident-fraught backdrop of a race at the Nürburgring.

Aston Martin’s Head of Motorsport, David King said: “Today was of course very much about preparation and simply bringing both cars home safely, honing our setup and letting the drivers become more familiarised with what is still a very young car.

“That said we are very encouraged by the potential that we’ve started to see today in the V12 Zagato, taking our best yet VLN race result in the process. While there is still much work to do, that gives us great hope for what will be another hugely tough and competitive 24-hour race in two weeks from now.”

Introduced as a modern interpretation of the famous Aston Martin and Zagato collaboration in the 50th anniversary year of the iconic DB4GT Zagato, the V12 Zagato revives a collaboration which has produced some of the most beautiful and sought-after cars in the world. The partnership takes inspiration from the past to create a modern interpretation based on Aston Martin’s ultimate performance interpretation of the Vantage range: the V12 Vantage.

The 2011 Nürburgring 24-hour race takes place between 25th-26th June where Aston Martin’s new V12 Zagatos will be joined by a factory-entered V8 Vantage and three customer teams; Mathol Racing, Bratke and Team Werner.